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Friday, February 9, 2018

In order to abide by FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received this book from WorthyKids/Ideals for free in exchange for an honest review. The links below are affiliate links. If you click trough and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission.

Easter is one of my favorite seasons of the church year. The weather is improving, moods are lightening, and the joy of the season is hard to escape. I try hard each year to make it an important time of year for our family as well. I want to make sure that my kids understand what's going on and how it relates to their faith lives.

That Grand Easter Day! (written by Jill Roman Lord, illustrated by Alessia Trunfio) is a children's story told in the format of "The House that Jack Built." The story slowly builds from the tomb, to the angels, to the surprised disciples, to Jesus Himself! Beautiful illustrations accompany the lyrical text in such a way that all readers will be drawn in.

You can purchase a copy for yourself on Amazon, or enter to win one below!

Monday, February 5, 2018

If you've been here for any length of time, you'll know I'm not a fan of cold weather. The theme for this month's Blog With Friends Challenge is "Winter Activities" and the only winter activity I actually enjoy is hibernating. So of course that's where I went with this project!

Frances made a blanket for the cat before Christmas and we decided we could make some more for Ken's cousin and her dogs. We also wanted to figure out how to make a bigger blanket for a bed, but the fleece was the wrong dimensions to do it the regular way. Ultimately, I decided to go for a quilted tied blanket. It's not a hard project, but it is a bit tedious.

Here's what you'll need:

fleece fabric in coordinating colors

fabric scissors

patience

I cut the fleece into 12-in squares (next time I will make them bigger). My goal for the blanket was to have it about 90 inches square, so I cut 100 squares of fleece: 50 of each fabric.

First I cut it into strips.

Then I cut the squares.

Then I notched out the corners of each square. You could measure this, but I didn't. I eyeballed it at about an inch and a half to two inches.

Then I cut each side into five strips about two inches deep.

Take two opposite pieces of fabric and tie the strips on one side together with knots. Then add another piece of fabric, alternating colors/patterns. Make a strip of 10 pieces together. Then make 9 more strips. Next, take one strip and tie it to another in the same way as before. Once you have all ten strips tied together, go out to the edges and tie the strips next to each other together in pairs.

After you've done all that, curl up under your new blanket with a good book and some hot tea. It's probably too cold to go outside anyway!

Friday, February 2, 2018

The hard part about blogging under your own name is that there are certain points where your story intersects with someone else's story in a way that makes it hard for you to share. I blogged a lot about my kids when they were little. Initially it was without much thought to their own person-ness. As they grew, and I learned more, I pulled back from that. I don't have the right to tell someone else's story. When I do share kid things here it is with their permission. And frankly, at their current ages, they do a lot less of the cutesy stuff that made blogging so popular back in the day!

I'm also a "verbal processor." I think out loud. Or in this case, through my keyboard. There are a number of situations I've written about in order to be able to find my feelings about them. I've come to a lot of conclusions at the end of a blog post that I don't think I would have otherwise seen. It's not foolproof of course. There are still some things about life and parenthood that baffle. Maybe there are things that don't have answers!

I've been posed a question: "How do you know when enough is enough?" and the first thing that comes to mind is a very current situation. One of the kiddos is having a really rough time in school. Such that running away and refusal to do work are pretty common themes. Behavior plans are not working and I've been called a number of times to come rescue this kid. Things came to a head this week when said child was suspended. No more school until we can all meet and come up with a plan that keeps everyone safe.

Obviously enough is enough. These behavior issues have been escalating and the solutions we have tried are not working. We need a better plan. Kids need to be in school. Students need to learn. Teachers need to be able to teach. Parents need to be able to work. And we need all those things to happen simultaneously.

We have a sit down meeting scheduled for this afternoon. In some ways I am looking forward to all of us coming around the table to come up with a plan. In some ways I am dreading the sense of judgement and intimidation that comes with sitting around a table listening to a list of "what's wrong with your child." I've done my research. I've called on a number of colleagues in the college of education. I've spoken with teacher-friends. I'm asking the psychologist to sit in on the meeting with me.

All I know is that this week a child, two parents, and a school all said "enough is enough!"

This has been a Secret Subject Swap. This week 10 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Saturday, January 27, 2018

In order to abide by FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received this book from WorthyKids/Ideals for free in exchange for an honest review. This post also uses affiliate links. If you click on link and purchase something, I will receive a small commission.

Do you like to talk with tomatoes? Can a squash make you smile? Do you like to waltz with potatoes up and down the produce aisle?

Even if you don't, your kids probably do! Veggie Tales are a very popular Christian-based kids' cartoon. It's one of the few I remember enjoying with my kids, to be honest. And now the Veggie Tales cast has a cute new book of bedtime prayers for little ones.

This book, intended for ages 2-5, has Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber, along with the rest of the Veggie Tales cast sharing short, rhyming prayers for bedtime. These prayers are great to read with your kids to reassure them of God's love just before they go to sleep. I'm sure you would find at least one that your child would be able to memorize and recite nightly as part of their bedtime routine!